The Penny
by thebestIcan
Summary: I know I shouldn't believe in luck. I was a man of science, and men of science don't believe in such trivial things as luck." Ed's thoughts when he finds a penny. First person, one shot.


I honestly have no idea how this came about. Maybe it's the penny gods telling me I need to pay some love to my piggy bank or something, I don't know... Anywho, this hopefully doesn't come across as too silly, I was kinda hoping for a more serious feeling, but anywho.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ed. I do own pennies.

The Penny

It was a penny. Worn copper, grungy and stuck slightly in the stamped down dirt of the road leading to some town I had been assigned to investigate by that Colonel Bastard. The shape of Amestris state and the year were facing up and my lip twitched in the slightest of a smile. It wasn't that old, I would have been eight when it was made, shiny and new. I looked up at Al, squinting against the bright reflection of the sun on his armor and shaking my bangs from my eyes before speaking, pointing down at the ground between my feet where the small bit of currency lay.

"Look Al! A penny!"

The great suit of armor stopped and turned to me, his head tilted to the side as he gazed at me as though I'd lost my mind. He was frustrated and anxious to get this investigation over with, and it showed as his great bucket-sized shoulders slouched. He shook his head and kept going, calling over his shoulder, his voice echoing as usual.

"Small things amuse small minds, you know!"

I scowled and crouched down, pushing back my coat, resting my hands on my knees and I began to stare at the penny, tilting my head to the side. Finding a penny was lucky! I know I shouldn't believe in such things as luck. After all, I was a man of science, and men of science don't believe in trivial things like luck. A physicist would say that there is no such force as luck. A mathematician would say that it is simply probability and how the odds stack up against the desired outcome. Men of science don't need luck.

I believe in luck.

While I may not carry around a rabbit's foot (Even thought I would have had the chance to after one month of hunting them, and finally catching a few!) or plant lavender in my garden (I don't have a garden and I'm a piss poor gardener.) or hop backwards three times the night of a new moon (because I'm not that stupid.), I'll take the time to throw salt over my left shoulder and pick up pennies with good years.

Like this one. Eight years old, what a great year! I broke my left arm falling out of the tree in front of our house! Okay, maybe that part about the year wasn't so great, but I remember sleepovers with Al and Winry, picnics with Mom and ham sandwiches with apple juice. I remember my first attempts at alchemy and the first time I lost my eyebrows during a transmutation. I remember flying kites in the fields and how Al and I used to wrestle and scream at each other. I remember what it was like before Mom died and we were looking for that damned stone!

I sighed as the dark thought permeated into my little trip down memory lane and I wrinkled my nose, cursing myself mentally for letting it be ruined. I tapped my fingers against my knees and tried to bring back the good memories, but the moment was lost.

"Brother, would you leave the penny alone!?"

I looked up to see Al a fair ways ahead of me and I had to squint to make out the details of his armor. I never told Al that I believe in luck. He'd believe in it too. I love my brother, honest I do, but if he tries to shove cats into his armor every time he sees a stray can you imagine what he'd do with pennies? It would be like walking around with an armor shaped piggy bank! He'd have four leaf clovers coming out his hypothetical ears!

He'd get his hopes up.

I don't want him to rely on luck. While I believe in luck, I know it doesn't always show up when you need it the most. I don't want him to start believing in something that can leave you hanging like that. I don't want him to make some sort of personal religion out of it. One superstitious brother in the family is enough.

I heaved a sigh as I watched my little but not -so-small brother turn and continue on his way. And so I slipped the glove off my left hand, because I didn't want to get it dirty, and made to retrieve my find. Picking at the copper disk with my chewed down index fingernail, it popped up from its dirt prison and into my hand. I rubbed it clean with my thumb, slipping it into my pocket as I fell back into step to catch up to Al, muttering under my breath.

"Find a penny, pick it up. All day you will have good luck."

After all, with what we wanted to do, with all that had gone bad and what we wanted to go right, we needed all the luck we could get.

* * *

Yeah, that was interesting. Anywho, _My Misadventures in Alchemy_ will be updated on Saturday.


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